... I don't know about that last bit, aquinas. DD is one of these kids, and honestly, she
still talks to me PLENTY, even at nearly 15yo. Her dad, now-- she shuts him out somewhat, but not completely. She still loves to chatter-chatter-chatter at BOTH of us, and to poke at us verbally until we respond. I
still have to ask her to (politely) be quiet so that I can hear myself think. She generally is better at picking up those signals from me now, so I have to say it less-- she can SEE when I'm writing an e-mail or picking up voicemail, driving in traffic, or need my full attention on things.
She's constantly posing me hypothetical/metaphysical/ethical questions, and probing me/using me as a sounding board for a Socratic exploration. The debate world lost a major star as a result of her not going to a high school with a debate team, I'll tell ya what.
Even TRYING to pre-plan was a disaster when she was little. She would do
my (open-ended, appropriate, and completely engaging) activity for about... ten nanoseconds... and then be right back to wanting my FULL attention in ways that weren't sustainable for me. To be perfectly frank, anything that was MY idea was automatically only "humoring Mom" and was given lip service at best. That might be unique as a facet of her oppositional tendencies, I don't know.
But it meant that enforcing boundaries on the behavioral impulses was essential to my sanity as an introvert.
